Most restaurant openings contain rich backstories. Business models and financial projections seldom motivate individuals to pursue endeavors with 90 percent failure rates. In the world of quick service, this spirit of stubborn entrepreneurialism can often be experienced in its purest form by...

The morning meal has long been a key element of some limited-service restaurants, and it’s no surprise that the number of operators entering this daypart continues to grow, as owners look to boost their revenues and build customer loyalty.
More than a dozen quick-service and fast-casual chains have...

I was taught by good people that you can capture magic if you’ve got a wonderful place that attracts really good people who believe in what you do. The thing that really gets me is there are about 1,300 Toppers team members out there today, and by and large, those people are highly engaged and...

With chicken wings, nachos, and pizza at the ready, more than 100 million fans will be piling into homes, restaurants, and bars across the country to watch the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks battle it out in Super Bowl XLVIII.
But at New York City’s MetLife Stadium, home of this year’s Super...

There are three entrées on the menu at Piada Italian Street Food: pasta bowl, chopped salad, and piada. What customers can create with those three options, though, is practically endless.
The restaurant’s namesake item, the piada, starts with an Italian thin-crust dough made with flour and olive...

Roll tape. Two women behind a cluttered counter smile into the camera, a range of designer outfits framing the wall behind them. They talk of a dream to open a business, a love for their corner of Washington, D.C.
Cut to individual glimpses of two men, one laughing as he sits on an orange leather...

Q: What does it take for a quick-service brand to become a great brand?
A: I get this question all the time. Many people look at superstar brands like Apple, Southwest Airlines, and Nike and mistakenly conclude those companies achieved their successes as a result of good timing, great advertising,...

Amid the glitz and glam of Hollywood’s boutiques and TV studios, Collier Ulrich’s upstart eatery, Marcona, is making a name for itself with turkey and ham. The New York native’s almost-two-year-old gourmet sandwich shop serves up classic East Coast deli fare enhanced by Mediterranean influences and...

On Tuesday, March 17, Starbucks will expand Mobile Order & Pay to Seattle and the rest of the Pacific Northwest. The mobile ordering feature allows customers to place an order in advance and pick it up at their selected Starbucks location.

Church’s Chicken has entered into a 10-unit franchise development agreement with Road Ranger, the leading truck stop, gas station, convenience store, and travel center chain in the Midwest spanning Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, and Texas. The terms of the deal, while not...

This Friday, denizens of the nation’s capital will get their first taste of fast-casual pizza chain, Pie Five Pizza. The concept will unveil its newest restaurant in L’Enfant Plaza Center, one block south of the National Mall, on March 13. Doors open at 7 a.m.

Uncle Maddio’s Pizza Joint brings Southeast Asian flavors to its menu with the introduction of two new limited-time only menu dishes, the ThaiTastic Salad and Sriracha Chicken Pizza. Both are inspired by the complex sweet-sour-salty-spicy flavor of Thai cuisine and are available at Uncle Maddio’...

Planet Sub is buying anyone named “Joe” a free six-inch sandwich this Friday for National Joe Day.This marks the 2nd year the oven-baked sandwich chain has offered their customers named Joe a free sandwich. The offer extends to anyone with “Joe” as part of their name, including names...

In 1995, Pizza Hut upped the ante by encouraging America to eat their pizza backwards because Stuffed Crust was just that good. Now, 20 years later, Pizza Hut is changing the game again by offering America the chance to sink a...

Like much of the rest of the economy, the 2008 economic meltdown brought a massive slow-down to the quick-service franchise industry. The combination of tightfisted money lenders and general economic uncertainty put franchise businesses in a near impossible position when it came to accessing...

While the fast-casual category continues to be the fastest-growing industry sector, the road in 2015 will be bumpy. We will see constant change and challenges around every corner. For industry leaders, there are issues that will keep even the most seasoned executive awake at night.
Here is my top...

Having started as a sandwich maker with Subway when he was 18 years old, Gurpreet Singh has spent nearly half his life in the quick-service industry. Now a Checkers franchisee, Singh has spent time in every quick-serve job imaginable: line worker, manager, general manager, and, today, franchisee....

What can I possibly tell you about potatoes, dear quick-serve industry professional, that you don’t already know? It’s not as though you’re unacquainted with America’s favorite starch. You may even know that it’s the world’s fourth-largest food crop, trailing behind only rice, corn, and wheat,...

When Lori Newcomb found out she had stage III ovarian cancer last year, she made it her mission to learn more about the disease and help other women fighting the same battle. She sat down with her husband, Chris Newcomb, cofounder and CEO of Southern quick-service chain Newk’s Eatery, and together...

What can I possibly tell you about potatoes, dear quick-serve industry professional, that you don’t already know? It’s not as though you’re unacquainted with America’s favorite starch. You may even know that it’s the world’s fourth-largest food crop, trailing behind only rice, corn, and wheat,...